Store-service apparatus



(No Model.) s Sheets-Sheet 1. J. T. COWLEY.

STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

No. 403,917. Patented May 28, 1889.

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No. 403.917. Patented May 28. 1889..

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J. T, COWLEY. STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

Patented May 28, 1889.

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UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES T. COVLEY, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE LAMSON CONSOLIDATED STORE SERVICE COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 403,917, dated May 28, 1889.

Application filed April 13 1887.

T at whom it -may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES '1. COWLEY, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Store-Service Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain novel improvements in cash-carrier apparatus where- IO in the carriage bearing the cash-box is im-' pelled over a horizontal track or way by impact given it at the station or cashiers desk.

The said improvements will be fully understood from the following description and I 5 claims, taken in connection with the annexed drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved cash-carrier, illustrating the cash-box carriage after it has received an impetus and while it is on its way, say, for instance, from the desk of the cashier to astation. Fig. 2 isa vertical section taken longitudinally through Fig. 1, with parts in a different position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken longitudinally through the carriage and its detachable cash-box. Fig. 4 is an enlarged inverted plan view of the carriage, the bot tom plate being removed; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged end elevation of said carriage.

A designates a tubular hanger, which is designed to depend vertically from the ceiling of a room and to receive through it part of the operating-cord, hereinafter explained.

B designates a horizontal arm, preferably 3 5 tubular, one end of which is rigidly secured into a collar, B, which is adjustably secured to the hanger A by means of a set-screw, a.

This arm is further sustained in a horizontal position by means of a diagonal brace, A,

' one end of which is rigidly secured into the socket t of a coupling-sleeve, C, on the upper end of hanger A, and the other 'end of said brace is secured into a pulley-bracket, D, on the outer end of the arm B.

The parts above referred to constitute a bracket adapted to receive and support the several improved devices, which I shall now describe.

G designates a rectilinear reciprocating 5o slide, which is preferablyof tubularform, and

Serial No. 234,691. (No model.)

which is allowed to receive free endwise movements on the arm B, limited in extent by a collar, b, which is adjustably secured by means of a set-screw, b, on said arm B, and provided with an elastic cushion, 12 to prevent shock and noise. A similar cushion or bumper, p, is applied on the arm B in contact with the socketed portion of the vertically-adjustable collar B, above described. To an ear, g, on the lower side of the slide G, one end of the operating-cord E is secured, which is passed around a grooved pulley, c,

j on rn'aled in the bracket D, and thence over a grooved pulley, c, journaled in ears formed on opposite sides of a vertical slot through the sleeve 0. From this pulley c the cord passes centrally through the tubular pendant A, and has attached to its lower end a suit able handle.

It will be observed by reference to Fig. 2 of the annexed drawings that inside of the pendant A, I employ a spring-section, S, at tached to the cord E, which is an elastic cord or a coiled spring. Instead of connecting this spring E, the object of which will be here- 7 5 inafter stated, inside of the pendant A, it may be attached to said cord between the two pulleys c 0 outside of the pendant.

To the upper side of the slide G, and pivoted between two ears near its rear end, is an arm, K, which is connected by a bifurcated knuckle-joint, is, provided with an automatic retractor or retracting-spring, j, to another arm, K, the lower bifurcated end of which is connected bya joint, m, to ears formed on the adjustable collar B, which latter joint may also be'provided with a retracting-spring, m The object of the springs j m, combined with the lever-arms K K, is to quickly retract the slide'G against its cushion-stop 19, after giving 0 to it a forward thrust in the act of shooting the carriage from a station. Depending verrically from the lower side of the slide G is an arm, g, the lower enlarged circular end,

9 of which is recessed and horizontally perforated to receive freely through it the trackwire M, which wire also passes freely through a perforated cushion, f, recessed into the end g of arm g.

I designates a horizontal arm,which is pref- 10o k to deaden shocks.

erably formed integral,with a tubular fitting, H, secured rigidly on the lower end of the pendant A'and receiving through it the operating-cord E. The arm I is grooved vertically and longitudinally, and in this groove is applied a latch, J the rear end of the shank of which is pivoted at 6 between elongated ears formed on the back of. the tubular portion H. The front end of the shank of latch J has a beveled hook, q, formed on it, and this latch is held up against a cushion, t",

by means of a spring, f. The cushion i is fitted into the lower part of .a verticallynotched guide 11, through which the trackwire M passes after being secured to a perforated ear 6, formed on the upper front part of the tube H, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the annexed drawings;

The front end of the arm I is provided with a finger, h, on which is secured a long tapered elastic sleeve, 71., preferably of rubber. The longitudinal axis of this sleeve is parallel to the track-wire M above it, and a vertical plane passin g longitudinally through the axis of the sleeve coincides with said track-wire, for a purpose hereinafter explained.

L designates the carriage or car for transporting the cash-box from one place or station to another. .This carriage consists of a light open-work'frame havingan inverted cup or case, L, formed on it. In practice I preferto form the carriage L and its cup L of two vertically and diametrically divided parts, Fig. 4, secured together by means of a plate, P, and screws 19 as shown, a disk, p of rubber, being interposed between said plate and the top of the cup L, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, This carriage is provided with grooved rollers r 0, which are sustained upon the track-wire and located between lugs near the ends 10 w' of the carriage, which ends are convex and longitudinally perforated to receive freely through them the track-wire and guide the carriage.

Below the rollers r 1', and at each end of the carriage, are rollers U '0, having concave surfaces, and preferably made of hardened rubber. These rollers have their bearings on screw-threaded rods which pass through the ooncavo-convex or bowed sides of the carriag'e.

' It will be observed by reference to Fig. 3'

that the two upper rollers, o '0, bear such relation to the grooved peripheries of the wheels 7 0" and the apertures through the ends to w of the carriage that the carriage will at all times be properly held on the track-wire, and will not have a tendency to jump when it receives a propelling-stroke from the cushion ed end of the arm or hanimerg', above described. The distance between the two rollers q) U at each end of the carriage L should be somewhat less than the greatest diameter of the elastic or yielding frictional cone h, fora reason which will hereinafter appear.

. The lower inner edge of the cylindrical iiiverted cup L is beveled downwardly and outwardly, forming an annular shoulder adapted to engage with beveled and hooked springactuated catches 1 f, applied in the lower end of the cash-box N, and provided with finger-pieces y y, exposed beyond the sides of this box, by compressing which the latter can be readily detached from its carriage. By simply pressing the box N into its case or cup L the catches will automatically engage with the annular shoulder y and hold the cashbox securely in the said cup.

P indicates a removable inside bottom for the cash-box, which I prefer to cover with cloth or leather, and which is notched to allow the catches g g to be compressed and released from their shoulder y.

The operation may be briefly described as follows: Suppose the carriage to be in the position represented in Fig.- 2 and locked by the hooked end of the latch J engaging with a shoulder,- w, formed by recessing the under side of the protruding convex end to of the carriage. In this position the carriage will also be held by the frictional contact of the elastic cone h with two of the end rollers v '0. By drawing down on the handle E the cord will be tightened, and the cushion on the propelling-arm g will first be forcibly brought in contact with said end it of the carriage. Then by continuing the draft on cord E the spring S will be stretched, and this stretching will continue until an adjustable stop or knot,

s, on the cord will contact with the shank of the latch J and depress the latter, thus disengaging the latch from the carriage,- thereby allowing the spring by its reaction to propel or shoot the carriage over the track-wire the desired distance. The longer the track-wire the greater will be the impulse required to propel the carriage over it, and the force of the impulse may be increased by adjusting the stop 3 so as to secure a greater tension on the spring S before said stop disengages the latch J from the carriage. It will thus be seen that it is by the recoil of the spring S that the carriage receives the impulse which propels it on the track M. Therefore only a steady pull is required to be given to the .cord E to effect that object. v

When the carriage is driven back, the elastic cone h will enter between the rollers '21 c with a gradually-increasin g friction,- but without shock, until the cone is tightly gripped, when the latch J will have engaged with the shoulder w" on the car and will prevent the carriage from rebounding. v

The supporting-bracket may be constructed indifferent ways, and the slide Gand guides may be of any suitable construction and may be retracted by any suitable device.

No claim is made herein,- broadly, to the matter shown and described in my pending IIO struction and arrangement of parts shown, I claim- 1. The combination, in a cash-carrierapparatus, of a Vertical pendant, a horizontal guide supported thereby, a propelling-slide on said guide, provided with a cushioned carriagestriking arm, a jointed retractor for said slide, and a bumper or cushion, p, in rear of the slide, substantially as described.

2. In a cash-carrier apparatus, the slide mounted independent of the track-wire and provided with a carriagestriking arm extending to the track-wire and operated substantially as described, and anelastic cushion on said arm perforated to receive through it the track-wire and to be guided thereby, substantially as specified.

3. In a cash-carrier apparatus, the combination, with a vertical pendant having the track-wire secured to it, of an arm, I, rigidly secured to said pendant and carrying a guide I or said wire, and an elastic frictional stop, a spring-actuated catch adjacent to this arm, adapted to engage with the carriage, a carriage-propelling device, and an operating-cord provided with a spring, S, and a stop for the said catch, substantially as described.

at. In a cash-carrier apparatus, the combination, with a supporting-bracket and a catch, of an elastic frictional cone independent of the track, adapted to enter between bearings of the carriage to arrest and prevent the rebound of the carriage on its way to be engaged by said catch, substantially as described.

5. In a cash-carrier apparatus, the 'combination, with the pendant A, the horizontal guide rigidly but adjustably secured to this pendant, a reciprocating carriage-propelling device, spring-actuated, as described, an arm,

I, located beneath said horizontal arm, and provided with a spring-actuated catch, and a frictional conical carriage -holder, substantially as described.

6. The combination, of a store service Wheeled carriage having contiguous concave bearings independent of its Wheels and a stop independent of the track, consisting of an elastic cone adapted to enter between said bearings, substantially as described.

7. In a cash-carrier apparatus, a carriage consisting of an upper horizontally-perforated portion provided with convex perforated end extensions, suspending-Wheels to sustain the carriage upon a track, and horizontal concaved rollers independent of the suspendingwheels and adapted to receive and engage with an anti-rebounding cone, substantially as described.

8. A cash-carrying carriage provided with convex perforated end extensions, recessed to engaged with a locking-catch, the suspensionwheels, the horizontal rollers, and an inverted cup adapted to receive and have secured to it the cash-box, substantially as described.

9. A cash-box carriage formed of two vertically-divided halves and provided with suspension-wheels, the horizontal rollers, perforated end guides for the track-wire, a connecting-plate and its retainingscrews, and a spring-cushion between this plate and the top of an inverted cash-box holder, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES T. COWLEY. W'itnesses:

B. F. HARMON, C. W. Looms, 

